Giant Partners With YMCA To Promote Healthy Living

By Courtney Collins

Giant Food and the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington have announced a partnership to keep kids moving, and snacking wisely. The team effort is designed to redefine the whole family's approach to healthy living.

Students from Howard Road Academy and Turner Elementary School in Southeast D.C. didn't seem fazed by the chilly temperatures as they blitzed through obstacle courses and cheered on their friends.

A mobile playground came with YMCA staffers to the Giant on Southeast Alabama Avenue Thursday, something Metropolitan Washington YMCA President Angie Reese-Hawkins calls a perfect example of their new partnership.

"Statistics will show you that in this particular area of the city, that the obesity trend is higher," Reese-Hawkins says. "So we think we should start our footprint here and make the greatest impact here."

Thanks to a $50,000 donation from Giant, the YMCA will now host a healthy snack program. In addition to providing them to students, the partners will also work to educate parents about healthy snacking in the home.

The YMCA will host family cooking classes and parents will be invited out to Giant to learn the secrets of healthy shopping, something Giant Consumer Advisor Andrea Astrachan says is an essential part of healthy living.

"Making simple changes like wheat crackers as opposed to white flour crackers; it's very small changes that can add up to make a big difference in our community," Astrachan says.

You can also expect to see that mobile playground at Giant stores across metropolitan D.C.